Web-guiding device.



vN0. 789,053. PATENTED MAY 2,1906. J. OGONNOR.

WEB GUIDING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 19.1900.

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WEB GUIDING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 19.1900.

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Patented May 2, 1905 PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES OCONNOR, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

WEB-GUIDING DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 789,053, dated May 2,1905.

Application filed June 19, 1900. Serial No. 20,840. i l i To all whom itmay con/007%.-

Be it known that 1, JAMES OCoNNoR, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, and a resident of New York, in the county and State of NewYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in l/Veb-GuidingDevices, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to means for guiding a traveling sheet or web insuitable relation to or registration with the rolls, type, trackerbar,or other devices of machinery or appa ratus employing such a sheet orweb, the object being to maintain the sheet or web in suitable normaloperative relation to its associated devices by means of the margins ofthe sheet or web itself without any perforation or cutting or otherspecial preparation of the sheet and without in any way injuring theedges of the most delicate or fragile fabric.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a plan view of my preferred embodiment ofthis invention, showing it as applied to the guiding of a perforatedsheet for controlling the operation of self-playing musical instrumentsand similar machines. Fig. 2 is a plan view of a modification of myinvention adapted to utilize electric currents as an operating orcontrolling medium. Fig. 3 is a plan view, and Fig. 4 is a front viewprojected therefrom of another modi'fied embodiment of my inventionemploying a right and left hand screw for operating the guiding devices.Fig. 5 is a fragmentary front view showing a portion of Fig. 4 in adifferent position.

The employment of a longitudinally-traveling sheet or web of paper orsimilar flexible material, although very common in connection with manyclasses of machinery, is attended by serious and well-recognizeddifficulties, among the more important of which is that of guiding thetraveling web in suitable register With the mechanism, so as to maintainthe web or the operating or controlling devices thereof in suitableregister or operative relation with the respective devices operated bythem. This difficulty is accentuated by the fact that these webs areordinarily made of paper of which the edges, al though best availableand satisfactory for this purpose, cannot ordinarily be utilized,because of the delicate or fragile character of the material, withoutcrumpling or otherwise injuring the edges. Hence the objection toemploying for thin webs, and especially for those which have to be runthrough repeatedly, those centralizing devices the operation of which isinaugurated by physical or forcible contact with the leading edge of theweb as the latter shifts sidewise. Such a traveling sheet or web isvery-liable to be deflected sidewise from its normal path of travel frommany causes, resident both in the apparatus which employs it and in thenature of the web itself. If one or more of the rolls should be slightlylarger at one end than at the other or if the axes of the associatedrolls are not perfectly parallel, the web will be deflected from thiscause alone. It frequently happens also that the paper of which thesewebs ordinarily are made is unequal in thickness at its two edges orthat the edges of the paper are not perfectlystraight and parallel. Thismay be due to imperfect cutting or trimming, or even if originally truethe webs become untrue through changes in the atmospheric conditi ons,particularly the humidity thereof, one or both of the edges beingaffected from this cause more than the middle of the web, which isprotected by the surrounding paper. Thus it often happens that a web ofpaper affected by any of the foregoing causes would when stretched outupon the floor in an extended. length assume a curved form instead ofbeing straight. These causes, either singly or in conjunction, presentmany difficulties in the way of feeding such aweb in a continuouslyaccurate course through a machine or apparatus. These difficulties areobviated in the present invention by means of devices for automaticallyshifting the rollers or the guiding devices, by means of which the paperis driven and guided, and by causing those de vices to be automaticallyactuated by the lateral deflections of the web, which when in its normalor central position serves to hold the web guiding or centralizingdevices out of operation and which by its divergence to one side or theother allows the appropriate guid ing or centralizing device to comeinto operative contact.

The preferred embodiment of my invention (shown in Fig. 1) illustratesits use in connection with apparatussuch as self-playing musicalinstruments employing a perforated note-sheet 8. The perforations of thesheet are intended to travel in register with corresponding apertures ina tracker-bar 9, those perforations being connected by means of tubing(not herein shown) with an exhaustchest 10, which connects with andoperates pneumatic motor devices in ways well known in this art andwhich need not, therefore, be described herein. The music-sheet is drawnfrom one to the other of the rolls 11 and 12, the latter of which isshown to be provided with a pulley 13, which is driven by means of abelt from any convenient shaft. With such an arrangement the paper wouldtravel in the direction of the arrow 14, and under these circumstancesthe web may be guided laterally with. relation to the tracker-bar bymoying the roll 11' lengthwise, or the trackerbar/1(? may be movedlengthwise beneath the "sl eet, either of these ways serving to regulatetne register of the perforations of the music-sheet in relation to theircorre sponding apertures of the tracker-bar.

The roll 11 is mounted upon the shaft 15, which turns in the bearings16, the latter resting in suitable seats in the supportingframes 17 and18, so that the roll may be readily removed therefrom to change thenote-sheets. The shaft is also provided with the thrust-collars 19 and20, which are located in engaging relation to the arms 21 and 22,attached to the movable sides of the bellows 23 and 24, respectively,which are provided with air-tubes 25 and 26, connected with independentprimary devices in the exhaust-chest 10. The operations of these primarypneumatics, and hence of their respective bellows-motors 23 and 24, arecontrolled through the tubes 27 and 28, leading to the apertures 29 and30 upon the trackerbar 9. In order to enable these apertures to bereadily adjusted in proper relation to the tracker-bar, they are, asshown, preferably carried in. independent blocks clamped to thetracker-bar by means of screws.

The bellows-motors 23 and 24 may be mounted upon brackets projectingfrom the frames 17 and 18. They are, however, as herein shown,preferably mounted upon the projecting ends of the tracker-bar 9, whichis fitted so as to slide freely in the frames 17 and 18. By thisarrangement the paper may be moved laterally with relation to thetracker-bar, or vice versa. In the first instance the tracker-bar isclamped to the frames by means of the screws 33, so that thebellows-motors when actuated will move the shaft 15, with its roll 1].,lengthwise. In the other case the bearings 16 are clamped to the framesby means of the screws 34, and the screws 33 are loosened, so that theactuations of the motors 23 and 24 operate to move the tracker-barinstead of the roll and in the opposite direction, the effect in eithercase being to restore the web and the trackerbar. to their normalrelative position in respect of each other.

The apertures 29 and 30 are located a suitable distance inside the edgesof the web and are covered by the margins thereof when the web is in itsnormal position; but when the web is from any cause moved or guidedtoward one side the aperture of the opposite side is uncovered, therebyadmitting air to its primary pneumatic in the eXhaust-chest 10, and thusactuating the corresponding bellows-motor in a direction to restore thesheet or the tracker-bar into proper adjustment.

The operation of the device is illustrated in Fig. 1 by the position ofthe web 8. It is here assumed that the web has been previously deflectedtoo far toward the right, so as to uncover the left-hand aperture 30,thus actuating the motor 24, which moves the roll 11 toward the left bysliding the bearings 16 endwise in their seats in the frames, therebyguiding the traveling web into its normal position, in which it coversagain both apertures. lVhen in this position, both motors remain in theopen position occupied by the motor 23, and the 101111 is yieldinglyretained as to endwise position by the friction of its bearings 16 intheir seats in the frame. In order to vary and regulate the amount ofthe restoring movement of the roll 11 or of; the tracker-bar 9, as thecase may be, the apparatus is provided with the adjustingscrews 35,which may be changed while the machine is in operation. The adjustmentof these screws will depend more or less upon the peculiarities of theindividual webs, some of which require more movement than others torestore them to correct register.

In the modification shown in Fig. 2 the web 39 is drawn over thetracker-bar 40, which may, if desired, be a bar or carriage for movingthe paper laterally, especially when employed at the end of a loop ofthe web, in a way well known to those familiar with this art. This baris herein shown to be provided with the contact-plates 41 and 42, whichare separated from the bar by suitable insulations 43 and 44. Thetracker or guide is fitted to slide endwise freely in the frames 45 and26. The terminals 47 and 48 are attached to and insulated from the frame45, and these terminals are con nected by the wires 49 in an electriccircuit, which incloses the battery 50 and the magnet 51. The oppositeframe 46 similarly supports the terminals 54 and 55, which are, by

means of the wire 56, included in a circuit with the battery 57 and themagnet 58. These magnets are adjustably attached to convenient supportson the framing, so that they may be adjusted toward and from each other,as may be required by the respective webs or to vary the amount ofrestoring movement required of each. The terminals 48 and 55, which restupon the paper, are preferably in theform of wire brushes, so that oneor more of them will make contact with its plate as soon as the edge ofthe web is withdrawn. These terminals or brushes are also preferablyinclined, as shown, in order that they may more readily ride over andupon the edge of the web during its restoring movement. When the web isin its normal position, it underlies both of the terminals 48 and 55, soas to hold them out of contact with their respective contact-plates 41and 42 all the while the web is in normal position; but whenever for anycause the web is deflected to one side, as shown in this figure, farenough to permit the terminal on the op posite side, as 55, to makecontact with the plate, as 42, the electric circuit is closed and thecorresponding magnet 58 is energized, thus drawing the bar toward theright, as shown in the figure, so as to restore it to proper relationwith the sheet. If this bar should, like the bar 9 of Fig. 1, beprovided with apertures or other devices with which the sheet mustregister, then in that case the terminals 48 and should be supported onand travel with the bar, as in the case of the terminal 48; but if thebar 40 is to serve merely as an indicator for the position of the paperthen in that case the terminals should all be secured to the frames 45and 46 or to any other convenient stationary object. The bar 40 may alsoin that case be stationary and the magnets 51 and 58 be attached to therolls, carriage, or other guiding or deflecting devices employed forrestoring the paper to its proper course.

In the modifications shown in Figs. 3, 4, and 5 the web 60 is fed fromone to the other of the rolls 61 and 62, and the journals of those rollsrest in suitable bearings in the movable carriage 63, which is supportedin the frame 64 of the machine. The roll 62 may be turned by an ordinarycrank, or it may be provided with a pulley 65 for receiving a belt, bymeans of which the rolls may be driven from any convenient adjacentshaft. The tracker-bar 66 extends across the machine and is supported atits ends by suitable hearings in the frame 64. This tracker-bar isprovided with the apertures 68 and 69, which may be mounted directlyupon the bar, as here shown, or may beattached thereto by means ofseparate blocks, as shown in Fig. 1. These apertures communicate, bymeans of tubes 70 and 71, with pneumatic devices in the exhaust-chest 7272,

those devices being independently connected with the bellows-motors 74and 75, respec tively, which may be mounted upon convenient brackets ofthe frame 64, or they may, as herein shown and for the reasonshereinafter mentioned, be mounted upon the ends of the tracker-bar 66.The movable arms 76 and 77 of these motors extend over the shaft of oneof the rolls, preferably that of the driven roll 62, as here shown, andthe corresponding portions of the shaft are provided with right and lefthand threaded portions 78 and 79, with which the respective arms areadapted to engage after the manner of a half-nut. Both these mo torsrest in their open position, as shown in Fig. 5, during the time thatthe Web remains in its normal relation to the tracker-bar, so as tocover both of the apertures 68 and 69. I/Vhen, however, the deflectionsof the paper uncovers either of the apertures, as 69 in the figure, theassociated pneumatic devices bring the corresponding arm 77 of thebellows into contact with the threads 79 of the shaft, thereby movingthe carriage 63 or the tracker-bar 66, so as to restore the normalrelation of the sheet thereto. As soon as that normal relation isrestored and the aperture 69 again covered the pneumatic action isreleased and the arm 77 rises again to its open or resting position.(Shown in Fig. 5.) By this arrangement either side may be brought intoaction, remain in action throughout the varying times that may berequired for restoring the web, and released again as soon as thedesired restoration has been effected.

Either the carriage or the tracker-bar may be fixed to place by means ofthe gibs 81 or 82, respectively, the one which is free following themovements imparted by the respec tive screw-threads 78 and 79. By thusremovably attaching the tracker-bar to the apparatus it may readily beremoved therefrom for purposes of examination or repairs or forsubstituting another trackerboard of a different style or scale. In theform shown in Figs. 3 and 4 the trackerboard may be thus removed byremoving the gibs 82, and in the form shown in Fig. 1 the tracker-boardmay be removed by removing the blocks 31 and 32, one of the bellows-motors 23 or 24, one of the screws 35, and slipping out the correspondingtube 25 or 26, which will permit the tracker-board to be slid out ofplace lengthwise and a tracker board of different style or scalesubstituted for it.

Inasmuch as the function and mode of operation of the apertures 29 and30, 68 and 69 are so closely analogous to those of the contact-plates ofFig. 2, they are herein broadly designated as contact-points. Themargins of the web when it is in its normal position serve also in thedevices of Fig. 2 to hold the terminals 48 and 55' from contact with theplates 41 and 42.

Many other modified arrangements of this device may be employed adaptedto the requirements of different conditions or different machines inmany ways that will obviously occur to those familiar with this art.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination with a sheet or web, ofmeans, contacting with the surface of the web and held out of operationwhen the web is in its normal position, for guiding orrestoring the webto that normal position when deflected or diverted therefrom.

2. The combination with asheet or web, of means for guiding or restoringthe web to its desired path when diverted therefrom and means,contacting with the surface of the web and held out of operation whenthe web is in its normal position, for inaugurating the operation of theguiding means.

3. Theeombination with the marginal surface of a traveling,- sheet orweb, of means for guiding or restoring, the web to. its normal ath whendiverted therefrom, a tracker-bar. and means contacting with themarginal surface of the web and held outof operation when the web is inits normal position, forinaugurating the operation of the guiding means.

4. The combination, with an apparatus employing, atraveling'sheet orweb, of means for maintaining the web and the apparatus in suitableoperative relation, comprising means for deflecting the web or theapparatus into the desired relation, and means held out of operativeengagement by the margin of the sheet for inaugurating the operation ofthe guiding means when the edge of the sheet is deflected or withdrawnfrom its normal position.

5. The combination, with a traveling sheet or web, of a tracker-bar, andmeans, maintained in inoperative condition by the sheet when in itsnormal position, for restoring the normal relation of the sheet and thetrackerbar when uncovered by the edge of the sheet.

6. The combination with the marginal surface of a traveling sheet orweb, of a trackerbar provided with contact devices arranged adjacent toand inside of the normal position.

of the edge of the sheet, so as to be covered by the marginal surface ofthe web when the latter is in its normal position, and means op erableby the uncovering of the contact devices, for restoring the normalrelation between the sheet and the tracker-bar.

7. The combination, with a traveling web, of pneumatic devices forrestoring the web to normal position when deflected therefrom, and atracker-bar, provided with contact devices located adjacent to andinside of the normal position of the edge of the web so as to bemaintained in inoperative relation by the web while the latter is innormal position, whereby the operation of the pneumatic devices isinaugurated withdrawal of the web from the contact devices.

mal relations when by the deflection or 8. In a web-driving apparatus,means for restoring'the web and the apparatus into nordeflectedtherefrom, consisting of rolls for guiding the web, and a tracker-barprovided with an aperture adj acent to and within the normal position ofthe web so as to be covered thereby, and pneu matic devices, theoperation of which is inaugurated by the uncovering of the aperture, forrestoring the web or the tracker-bar to normal position.

9. In aweb-driving apparatus, in combination with a rollthereof, a motorfor moving the roll sidewise and means normally held out of operation bythe interposition of the sheet when in its normal position for movingthe roll sidewise to restore the web to normal position when deflectedtherefrom;

10. In combination with. mechanism employing a traveling sheet or web, atracker provided with a guide-opening, arranged to be closed by thesheet, when the latter is in its normal position, means for propellingthe sheet across the tracker, and pneumatic devices governed by theguide-opening for ad justing the relation of the tracker and thesheet-propelling means when the opening is uncovered. I

11. In combination with mechanism employing a traveling sheet or web, atracker provided with a guide-opening arranged to be normally closed bythe sheet when the lat ter is in normal position, rolls for propellingthe sheet across the tracker, a bellows governed by the guide-opening,and engaging with the tracker and rolls, to adjust their relation, whenthe guide-opening is uncovered.

12. In combination with mechanism employing a traveling sheet or web, anadjust able tracker provided with a guide-opening arranged to be closedby the sheet when the latter is in its normal position,longitudinally-adjustable rolls for propelling the sheet, and a bellowsoperatively governed by the guide-opening, and engaging with the trackerand rolls to adjust them when the guidcopening is uncovered.

13. 1n combination with mechanism emloying a traveling sheet or web, anadjustable tracker provided with a guide-opening arranged to be closedby the sheet when the latter is in normal position, laterally-adjustablemeans for pro ielling the sheet across the tracker-bar, a bel owsconnected with the guideopening, and engaging with the tracker andsheet-propelling means to effect their relative adjustment, and meansfor clamping either the tracker or the sheet propelling means in place,whereby the other may be employed as the adjustable member.

14:. In combination with mechanism employing a traveling sheet or web, atracker,

means for propelling the sheet across the tracker, a bellows foradjusting the relation between the tracker and the sheet-propellingmeans, and means for regulating and adjustjng the amplitude of movementof the belows.

15. In combination with mechanism employing a traveling sheet or web, atracker provided with an adjustable guide-opening.

16. In an automatic musical instrument, the combination of a trackerprovided with a guide-opening arranged to be closed by the note-sheetwhen the latter is in its normal position, means for propelling thesheet across the tracker, and a bellows governed by the guide-opening,and adapted to adjust the relation of the tracker and thesheet-propelling means when the opening is uncovered.

17. In an automatic musical instrument,

the combination of a tracker provided with a' guide-opening, arranged tobe closed by the note-sheet, when the latter is in normal position,means for propelling the sheet across the tracker, and a bellowsgoverned by the guide-opening mounted upon the tracker and engaging withthe sheet-propelling means, to adjust them when the guide-opening isuncovered.

18. In an automatic musical instrument, the combination of a trackerprovided with a guide-opening, a delivery-roll, and a take-up roll fordrawing a note-sheet across said tracker, said guide-opening beingarranged to be normally closed by the note-sheet, a shaft connected withone of said parts, and a bellows governed by said opening and engagingwith the shaft to move the same when the opening is uncovered.

19. The combination, with a traveling sheet or web, of a tracker-bar,and means, maintained in inoperative condition by the sheet when in itsnormal position, for restorof June, 1900.

JAMES OCONNOR. Witnesses:

A. H. WAND, GEO. T. ANDREWS.

